


Welcome Home

by petiteinsomniac



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Fluff, M/M, SO, andrew rannells made jello cake, babies in love, everyone is happy, soft, this happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 20:43:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16961136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petiteinsomniac/pseuds/petiteinsomniac
Summary: on their first day in their new apartment, Marvin and Whizzer engage in some unexpected activity.





	Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry. Please blame Andrew Rannells and his midwestern ridiculousness for this.

Marvin was an early riser. He wasn’t particularly fond of that habit of his, and yet he woke with the sun each morning in spite of himself, dragging himself out of bed for coffee that he didn’t even like that much. Marvin was thinking about that as he carefully stepped through the various boxes and displaced belongings to reach the coffee maker that he’d remembered to set up before sleeping the night before. As he followed the familiar motions, Marvin glanced over at the near-empty living room, his eyes landing on the carpet as a smile flickered over his face. The night before, with their dining table still on its side in the hallway, he and Whizzer had sat there on the floor, eating Chinese food out of its cartons with chopsticks that Whizzer was excellent with, and which just frustrated Marvin. Now he remembered fumbling with them, just on the verge of tossing the damn things on the floor. Then, he had glanced up just in time to catch Whizzer’s burst of delighted laughter- the warm, familiar sound accompanied by the sight of his eyes crinkling up and the way his whole body, seized with joy, pitched forward slightly in Marvin’s direction. And just like that, with Whizzer looking at him that way, the irritation melted away and Marvin found that he didn’t mind the chopsticks that much after all. Now, as the rich scent of his coffee filled the mess of a kitchen, Marvin took a deep breath. He looked out the window, taking note of the lightening sky beyond the glass, and let his mind wander back to Whizzer, sleeping soundly in their bed down the hall. The bed itself had been an adventure to get into the new apartment, but Marvin thought that it was honestly worth it just to see Whizzer curled up there in it in these early morning hours. He shook his head slightly, wondering to himself when he’d gotten so soft. 

He knew the answer, of course. It had taken the loss of a lifetime- the loss of Whizzer- the look on Jason’s face when he’d hit Trina, the feeling in his chest when he had to come home to nothing and no one for weeks on end, and two years of self reflection,not to mention a lot of conversations with Charlotte that had really been more like lectures from Charlotte. But he’d done it; he had revised himself to the extent that he no longer recognized himself. And yet, he’d felt better. Even before Whizzer had walked back into the picture, Marvin had still felt better. Cordelia told him that was the sign that it was genuine; Marvin thought she had a point. So lost in his thoughts as he leaned against the counter sipping coffee for the mere routine of it, Marvin didn’t even notice the soft sound of Whizzer’s footsteps as he entered the room. When Whizzer’s familiar touch landed on his shoulders, Marvin jumped slightly. However, it took a mere instant for him to relax into the familiar feeling and he turned slightly with a smile to look up at Whizzer. 

“Hi,” he murmured, leaning back into Whizzer’s chest as he twisted his head just enough to plant his lips at Whizzer’s jawline, dropping a series of sweet kisses there. He felt, rather than saw, Whizzer smile against him, strong arms wrapping securely around Marvin and drawing him in closer while Whizzer buried his nose against Marvin’s wayward curls. 

“Hi,” Whizzer breathed in return, voice still warm and a little scratchy with sleep. Marvin was so caught up in the sheer feeling of it that it almost didn’t even occur to him to wonder why Whizzer was up so early. Almost. 

He turned in Whizzer’s arms, the steaming cup of coffee on the counter all but forgotten, and looked inquisitively at his lover, whose warm, innocent dark eyes sparkled back at him. 

“What?” Whizzer asked at Marvin’s clearly curious gaze. 

“What are you doing up?” Marvin asked. Whizzer’s little shrug told Marvin instantly that his instincts were correct in thinking that something was up. 

“I can’t just wake up early?” Whizzer asked evasively, and Marvin raised his eyebrows skeptically. 

“Whizzer,” he began, “how long have I known you?” 

“Hmm,” Whizzer hummed in a way that made Marvin instantly regret having asked that question. “Well,” he continued, “there was the period of time when all we did was fuck occasionally, and then if you add that to the disastrous nine months that came next and subtract the two years- or do we leave the two years?” 

It was a mark of Marvin’s reinvention of himself that he didn’t respond to Whizzer’s miscalculation of the time frame; Marvin was still quite certain it had been ten months. 

“Alright, alright,” he said instead with a roll of his eyes, at which Whizzer grinned impishly. 

“That’s not the point and you know it, pretty boy,” Marvin grumbled. 

“Then what is the point?” Whizzer asked. 

“The point is, you haven’t woken up this early the entire time I’ve known you,” Marvin answered. 

“Oh, that’s not true,” Whizzer objected. “There was the one time that I was-” 

“Sick, yes I know,” Marvin acquiesced with a nod as their words overlapped. He shook his head firmly and added, “Doesn’t count.” Whizzer pouted for a moment but then shrugged and visibly brightened as he tugged himself free from Marvin’s grasp in order to turn and search the kitchen for the tea kettle that he knew was in there somewhere- he just didn’t know exactly where. Unlike Marvin, Whizzer had not had the foresight to figure out where it was the night before. Marvin, on the other hand, had seen this one coming. He leaned against the counter watching Whizzer rifle through boxes in mild amusement for a few moments. Just when he could tell that Whizzer was starting to become genuinely frustrated, he set his coffee mug back on the counter and tugged Whizzer away from the boxes with a gentle hand in his. 

“Tea kettle?” he asked patiently. Whizzer nodded with a frustrated little sigh, and Marvin smiled slightly, squeezing Whizzer’s hand in his before he pulled away and spun in a half-circle until he’d found the box he was looking for. He watched the relief on Whizzer’s face as he produced the carefully packed kettle and boxes of teabags and smiled slightly. 

“I packed them for you,” he said. 

“Ugh, thank you,” Whizzer replied as he took the box and pressed an absent kiss to Marvin’s cheek before directing his attention to his tea. Marvin just shook his head, reveling more than he ever thought he would in the simple domesticity of it all. 

 

Some time later, their respective coffee and tea mugs nearly empty before them, Marvin found himself still curious and decided to broach the earlier subject again. 

“So what is it that’s really got you up this early voluntarily?” he asked, tanging his fingers with Whizzer’s on the countertop. 

“Oh!” Whizzer exclaimed. He looked over at Marvin excitedly. 

“I’m making cake,” he announced. Marvin stared at him, the picture of enthusiasm there in the messy, still-packed, disaster of an apartment that was theirs, and he didn’t have the heart to argue the point that making cake in this mess would be a horrible idea. 

“Cake?” he repeated instead. Whizzer nodded happily, and strands of his dark hair fell into his eyes. He hadn’t even reached up to brush them away before Marvin’s fingers were there, gently brushing over the silky hair and putting it back in its place. Whizzer spared him a moment for a tender look before he was once more focused on his cake. 

“I have to run to the store and pick up ingredients,” he began as he stood from his spot at the counter and busied himself with rinsing his teacup. He spared a glance around the kitchen and then back to Marvin. 

“Do you know where the pans are?” he asked. Marvin chickled, pausing in the center of the kitchen to catch Whizzer in a quick hug as he nodded his head. 

“Yeah, I’ll find them while you’re out,” he agreed, and was rewarded with a bright smile and the trace of a kiss in Whizzer’s rush to get to his cake. 

“Thanks, baby!” Whizzer called as he left the room, and Marvin shook his head good-naturedly, before beginning the search for their dishes. 

It wasn’t until the ingredients that Whizzer had picked up at the store were spread across the counter that Marvin noticed anything odd. Reaching out, he picked up a box of cherry Jell-O, looking between it and his boyfriend in utter confusion. 

“Whizzer?” he asked, and the man in question turned from his place in front of the oven to look inquisitively back at Marvin. 

“Yeah?” 

“Um,” Marvin began, “Can you explain to me what you’re going to do with this Jell-O?” 

Whizzer stared at him for a moment. 

“I’m gonna put it in the- wait.” He shook his head slightly. “Are you telling me you’ve never had Jell-O cake?” 

Marvin looked back at him, their eyes meeting across the room. 

“Jell-O cake,” Marvin repeated slowly. 

“Oh my god, this is a travesty,” Whizzer groaned. “It’s a goddamned treat.” 

Marvin’s lips quirked upward in a small smile at Whizzer’s dramatic declaration, but he nodded his head. 

“Alright,” he said. “But honey you realize you’ve picked the worst possible day to make a cake, right?” 

Whizzer followed Marvin’s lead and looked around the apartment. Marvin had managed to produce what he hoped was everything that Whizzer would need, but the place was overall a wreck. After a moment of silence, Whizzer shrugged his shoulders. 

“I love a good challenge,” he said cheerfully, and Marvin laughed. 

“Is that why you’re still with me?” he asked. 

“Careful,” Whizzer sang; Marvin laughed again. He settled in to watch Whizzer, finding that the mess didn’t even bother him that much. Once, ti would have. But now, all that really mattered was this; Whizzer, in a home that was theirs together, happy and chatty and making some god-forsaken thing that he called Jell-O cake. A twinge of regret crept into Marvin’s conscience as he silently watched; had he just figured it all out earlier, they wouldn’t have had to wait so long. He could have had so much more of this time with Whizzer, time in which a plethora of unpacked boxes didn’t matter and existing together was all that did. He shook himself out of that feeling; there was no use dwelling on it now. All that would do was waste more time, which Marvin had long since decided he was finished doing. 

“So why today?” he asked, resting his head on the palm of his hand as he tilted his head to look up at Whizzer. 

“Why today what?” Whizzer asked. 

“The cake,” Marvin answered. “Why make it today?” 

Whizzer, checking the box of cake mix for ingredients, shrugged. 

“I don’t know, it’s just that the apartment is new and it’s the holidays and it should feel like home, you know?” he said. Marvin smiled. 

“Since when are you so sentimental?” he teased. “And since when can you bake?” 

“Shut up,” Whizzer advised, brandishing a spatula in Marvin’s direction. Marvin laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender, and returned to watching Whizzer, still marveling at his sheer good fortune to have found himself in this life. 

 

Later that day, as Whizzer leaned over the countertop to frost his cake, Marvin was still skeptical. He’d made use of some of the time while Whizzer was baking to unpack a little bit, and now that he’d returned to his place at the counter, he found himself unsure as to what exactly had happened in his absence. 

“Where’s the Jell-O?” he asked curiously. 

“In the cake,” Whizzer replied, not looking up from the work he was doing. Marvin bit his lip. He couldn’t think of any plausible way that his boyfriend could have put Jell-O in a cake that would taste even remotely good. Yet, he also knew that there was no way he was going to refuse to eat that cake. 

“It’s good, Marvin, I promise,” Whizzer laughed as he looked up and caught the concern on his boyfriend’s face. “Come on, you’ve been eating Cordelia’s food for years, how bad can my cake be?” 

Marvin had to admit he had a point there. 

“There,” Whizzer announced shortly after that, stepping back to look proudly at his creation. Marvin rounded the counter and looked down at it as well. He smiled slightly at the sight of the little house that Whizzer had drawn in red and green icing atop the white. 

“We live in an apartment building,” he pointed out. 

“I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop talking,” Whizzer said evenly as he drew Marvin in closer with one arm slung around his shoulders. Marvin laughed, resting his head briefly against Whizzer’s shoulder. 

“It looks great, baby,” he amended, and he could all but feel Whizzer preening next to him. 

“Alright now we eat,” Whizzer said happily. 

“Already?” Marvin asked. “You just finished decorating it.” 

“Yeah, but the important part is that you try this cake, because it’s the best invention ever,” Whizzer declared, and Marvin smirked. 

“That’s not what you were saying last-” 

“Marvin.” 

“Sorry.” 

Whizzer turned his head to hide his smile and proceeded to cut a slice of his carefully crafted cake, which he then turned and produced to Marvin with a flourish and the brightest smile. Marvin couldn’t help but laugh affectionately at his boyfriend’s childlike eagerness. This was a side of Whizzer he would not have once believed existed. Whizzer had been cold and aloof and all witty remarks with nothing genuine attached, let alone anything as vulnerable and lovable as this. Marvin took a second, as he took his cake from Whizzer, to be grateful that he got to see this once well-hidden version of his lover. 

“Go ahead,” Whizzer encouraged, and though Marvin, looking at the sliced cake, was still unsure, he took the offered fork and used it to cut a bite of the cake. Under Whizzer’s careful gaze, he brought the fork to his mouth and took a bite. He had been prepared to school his expression, but found that he didn’t need to. To his pleasant surprise, he found that the cake was, as Whizzer had said, very good. 

“See?” Whizzer exclaimed. “I told you it was good.” 

Marvin nodded, laughing lightly at Whizzer’s sheer glee. As he leaned in to kiss Whizzer with a whispered, “welcome home,” he was thinking to himself that it didn’t matter if the cake had been good or not, because everything else most definitely was.


End file.
